Honesty

"Husband!"

When Zhao Mingyan returned to the Tan Mansion, the sun had already set. She went straight to the study and found Tan Linshuang there.

"My dear, you are finally back. If you were any later, Grandmother and Mother would have sent people out to look for you..."

Tan Linshuang turned around with a smile, but when she saw Zhao Mingyan's serious expression at the moment, she couldn't help but feel surprised and a little worried.

"Madam, what's wrong with you?"

He walked over quickly and held Zhao Mingyan's hands, feeling her palms burning hot. He then touched her forehead and found no heat.

After a slight sigh of relief, he hurriedly asked, "Madam, what happened outside?"

"Um!"

Zhao Mingyan nodded heavily, "We rescued a lady who had attempted suicide by jumping into the river near the Chastity Hall."

"Jumping into the river to commit suicide? Where is she now?" Tan Linshuang frowned.

"Husband, do you know who she is?" Zhao Mingyan looked at him with sharp eyes.

"I know him?" Tan Linshuang asked in confusion.

Zhao Mingyan said, "You don't know him, but your uncle knows him?"

"Tan Mozhu?" Tan Linshuang blurted out, with an expression of disgust that was not concealed at all.

Seeing his reaction, Zhao Mingyan felt relieved. It seemed that her guess was right. The relationship between the uncle and nephew was worse than she thought.

So she told him in detail what had happened to Xu Qiaolian.

Seeing his brows furrowing ever tighter, Zhao Mingyan asked tentatively, "Have you ever known about your uncle's dirty deeds?"

Tan Linshuang did not answer, but took several deep breaths repeatedly, as if he was making some decision. His eyes were as heavy as the water at the bottom of a well, illuminating nothing except a faint light.

It also made Zhao Mingyan unable to see through it.

"Husband?" She frowned slightly.

"Madam, you may have heard from A Tao or other people's servants about my parents' accidental fall off the cliff?" Tan Linshuang spoke suddenly.

His voice was deeper than his gaze, but his words were clear.

Zhao Mingyan nodded. "Although it was an accident, the disappearance of the driver surnamed Zhang, alive or dead, is indeed strange."

"He is not dead, and the accident was caused by him, secretly instructed by Tan Mozhu." Tan Linshuang spoke word by word, his voice was not loud, but it was deafening to Zhao Mingyan.

"Tan Mozhu killed your parents? Why? Does grandma know?"

After being stunned for a moment, Zhao Mingyan asked questions one after another in disbelief.

Tan Linshuang took her hand, walked out of the study, returned to their bedroom, and called A Tao to go to the main courtyard to inform Fan Wenlan and Li Yuzhu that Zhao Mingyan was not feeling well and wanted to stay in the house for dinner. She then sent Xiao Zhu to the east kitchen to prepare meals for the two of them.

After entering the house, Tan Linshuang helped Zhao Mingyan undress while slowly telling her the truth about her parents' murder.

He said it would take two incense sticks of time, but when he turned around, it was already dark outside the window.

"Husband..."

Zhao Mingyan wanted to say something, but her words were choked with sobs as she opened her mouth.

Shock, anger, sadness, sympathy...all kinds of emotions surged into her heart, making her burst into tears.

"Don't cry, my lady. Don't hurt yourself." Tan Linshuang quickly took out a handkerchief to wipe her tears.

Zhao Mingyan hugged him, buried her face in his chest, and sobbed softly.

Tan Linshuang patted her back gently and whispered, "It's all over...it's all over..."

These words were spoken to Zhao Mingyan as well as to himself.

When Zhao Mingyan stopped crying, Tan Linshuang asked, "Where did you settle that lady?"

Zhao Mingyan sniffed and said in a muffled voice, "I originally planned to send her to Mr. Mei. Mr. Mei is kind-hearted and tight-lipped. He often takes in homeless children and has a place for Qiao Lian. Unfortunately, he is not at home, and neither are his servants. I was anxious, so I sent her to my aunt's."

"My aunt lives in the villa at home, right between Yongnian Town and Zhaohua Town."

"Is it safe?" asked Tan Linshuang.

Zhao Mingyan nodded. "In the countryside, far from the official roads, there aren't many outsiders."

"What I mean is, is your aunt reliable?" Tan Linshuang said bluntly.

In his impression, although it cannot be said that a concubine and a legitimate child are not close, it is difficult for them to establish a relationship of mutual trust, unless they live together for a long time.

Zhao Mingyan raised her head from his embrace and said with a smirk, "Do you think everyone is like your Tan family?"

"Auntie is not only my mother's distant cousin, but also treats me well. It's a pity that my parents ordered her to be my father's concubine. It would be better for her to be the old man's concubine."

"Although my father was concerned about my mother, he treated her well. He even found a good husband for her younger sister and took her away from her blood-sucking family."

"My mother's family is actually a large clan, even more complex than my father's. The family values ​​are also mixed. Some branches believe that sons are the heirs of the family, while daughters are like commodities, to be traded for profit. They also say that beautiful daughters are 'rare goods'."

"My grandfather couldn't stand their ugly faces and cut off all contact with them long ago. That's why outsiders think my mother has very few relatives on her side of the family... I'm getting off topic. Anyway, my aunt is very trustworthy."

Tan Linshuang nodded in relief and said meaningfully, "A distant relative is not as good as a close neighbor."

"Husband, I promised Qiao Lian that I would help her report to the authorities. In fact, I ran into her outside the government office last year, so I felt she looked familiar when I saw her today."

"She was pregnant last year, but after just one year, she lost the pregnancy."

Zhao Mingyan gently stroked her belly, tears welling up in her eyes again. "Since we met again, and I saved her this time, it means that not only are we destined to be together, but even God wants me to help her."

"Husband, let's report to the police tomorrow!" Her eyes became increasingly fiery.

"My lady, don't be impulsive." Tan Linshuang pinched her shoulders. Knowing that she was emotional and irrational at the moment, she did not hide anything. In addition to telling her Tan Mozhu's motive for killing his brother and sister-in-law, he also told her all the secrets buried deep in his heart.

"My dear, I was the one who spread the rumors that I wouldn't live past my twenties. It was when I realized that Tan Mozhu might have murderous intentions towards me."

Zhao Mingyan widened her eyes, but soon nodded as if she understood.

Before the marriage was settled, she asked a beggar she was familiar with to go to the neighboring Yongnian Town to inquire about the matter, wanting to know whether the rumor was true or not. The beggar came back and told her that the rumor seemed to have come out of thin air, and the source could not be traced, but it was widely spread.

The beggar didn't understand, but as a businessman, Zhao Mingyan immediately thought that it might be the work of the Tan family's business rival.

But after getting married, I found that this was the only company in the bamboo business, not only in Yongnian Town, but also in the entire Fushun County.

If not a business rival, then who could it be?

Now that she heard Tan Linshuang tell her the truth, she suddenly understood.

If the source of a rumor cannot be found, it is very likely that it was spread by the rumormonger himself.

"How did you realize that Tan Mozhu wanted to harm you? That's when you started to suspect that he was involved in your parents' deaths?"

Zhao Mingyan looked at Tan Linshuang, his eyes flashing slightly.

Tan Linshuang raised her eyes to look into the dark twilight, as if she saw her former self.

The self who can’t find the direction and has nowhere to rely on.

"It was only after I realized that he had ill intentions towards me that I began to suspect that my parents' deaths might not be that simple."

"A month after my parents' funeral, I was bedridden and had nightmares. One day, I suddenly dreamed of the bamboo forest at the south residence and my mother. She ran out of the forest crying, and I hurried to chase her, but I ran into another bamboo forest and lost my way."

"After waking up, I was in a trance, not knowing whether it was a dream or if I had truly experienced such a scene. So I dragged my frail body to the South Residence. Just as I was passing the pool, I suddenly felt a strong wind coming from behind. I didn't have time to react and fell into the pool."

"The moment I fell into the water, I saw a figure. Although he flashed by, I still recognized his profile. It was 60% similar to my father's profile."

"But I didn't have time to dwell on it. I desperately climbed to the edge of the pool. After confirming that there was no more murderous aura around, I dared to scream for help... From then on, I started feigning illness and began to question the cause of my parents' death."

"Tan Mozhu didn't suspect anything because he didn't know that the teacher my father hired, in addition to teaching me to read and write, would also teach me martial arts, focusing on cultivating internal energy to strengthen my body, and even feigning illness."

"The plague many years ago nearly wiped out our family. My father believed that if we strengthened our bodies early on, we might be able to withstand the plague when it came."

"But he didn't expect that it was his foresight that kept me alive."

"Only by staying alive can we avenge them!"

Tan Linshuang clenched his fists suddenly and his eyes became fierce.

"Do you know why Tan Mozhu can't have children?"

He suddenly lowered his eyes and looked at Zhao Mingyan, his eyes changed again, gentle as water.

Zhao Mingyan blinked. "Was he...hurt by you?"

Tan Linshuang raised the corner of his lips, "To be precise, it was caused by him and me."

"Who told him to be so lustful and fond of aphrodisiacs? I took advantage of his weakness and arranged for a servant in the east kitchen who I trust to regularly feed him horny goat weed tea. Horny goat weed is a herb that nourishes the liver and kidneys and strengthens yang, but if consumed long-term, it can cause infertility."

"Of course, he also poisoned me once, so I always have antidotes for various poisons in my room."

"Then last time..." Zhao Mingyan stared in shock, thinking of the time when she was almost used as a murder weapon by Tan Mozhu.

Tan Linshuang shook his head. "It's not poisonous. I coughed up blood on purpose so that you will learn a lesson and not become a knife in Tan Mozhu's hands."

"Coughing up blood and other such things has become commonplace in order to appear convincing."

"Husband, I'm sorry for wronging you over the years!" Upon hearing this, Zhao Mingyan choked up again.

She felt that it was not easy to take over the shop after her father's death. Who would have thought that compared with Tan Linshuang's experience, it was nothing worth mentioning.

"Grandma, do you know this?" She hugged Tan Linshuang and asked softly.

Tan Linshuang's pupils gradually shrank, and her eyes dimmed. "Some know, some don't, and some pretend not to know."

Zhao Mingyan was startled and lowered her voice, "What about your parents?"

"I know!" Tan Linshuang answered without hesitation.

Just two short words, but they are heart-wrenching.

"How do you plan to avenge your parents? Do you need my help?"

Zhao Mingyan looked up at him with a firm gaze.

At this moment, she became Tan Linshuang's real wife.